El Paso County Republicans will gather to watch the fourth GOP presidential candidate debate Tuesday night starting at 6 p.m. at Stargazers Theatre, 10 S. Parkside Dr.

Executive director of the local party, Daniel Cole, said he expects a stark contrast from the debate that was held Oct. 28 in Boulder.

“I expect a sophisticated debate focused on the issues,” Cole said. “Fox Business News and the Wall Street Journal will want to distinguish themselves from CNBC, which in its debate focused on personality issues and tried to incite conflict between the candidates.”

Cole said there could be a big turnout for the watch party given that El Paso County has 170,000 registered Republicans.

The event is free and there will be a cash bar and dinner options available for $7.50.

Cole said about 100 people had RSVP’d as of Monday afternoon, including some Democrats.

“Everybody is welcome,” Cole said, requesting that those planning to attend e-mail him at daniel@gopelpaso.com.

The debate will be streamed live for free on www.foxbusiness.com and begins at 7 p.m.

Participating in the main debate are: Donald Trump, Ben Carson, Marco Rubio, Ted Cruz, Jeb Bush, Carly Fiorina, John Kasich and Rand Paul. The event is being held in Milwaukee.

“It will be interesting to see whether this debate asks Ben Carson about the controversy that is swirling around him,” Cole said.

Carson has faced a slew of criticism over the accuracy of parts of his autobiography.

The moderators won’t want it to be a gotcha question, Cole said, but they might address it.

–

Contact Megan Schrader

719-286-0644

Twitter: @CapitolSchrader

Workers stand in at the candidate’s podiums Monday, Nov. 9, 2015, in preparation of for Tuesday’s Republican debate in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Morry Gash)

Morry Gash